146 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.. 



could make and use the paper pans who 

 wished. 



I have no other mode of folding than 

 that described above, or the one-by-one 

 method, and think that, by this plan, 

 with the board, I can fold from 80 to 

 100 an hour, so that it is not such a 

 serious job unless honey is produced up 

 into the tons. However, if there is a 

 quicker way, or one where several pans 

 can be folded at a time, I as well as 

 others should like to know it. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



M-lmn in Australia-Newsy Letter 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY EDWARD EYE. 



Wingham is a little municipal town of 

 600 inhabitants, the center of an agri- 

 cultural district of about 3,000. It is 

 about 230 miles north of Sydney, on 

 the Pacific slope. The temperature 

 ranges from about 30^ Fahr. in the 

 winter to 110° in the summer. Maize 

 is the staple of the district, and many 

 other kinds of grain are also grown. 

 There is a butter factory here, and milk 

 and butter are produced in large quan- 

 tities ; also grapes and most other kinds 

 of fruits. 



The slope is a moist one ; few months 

 passing without their due quota of mois- 

 ture. Honey and wax may also be 

 reckoned amongst its productions ; but 

 hitherto the "frame hive" system has 

 been unknown. The official return for 

 bees and honey and wax for the year 

 ending Dec. 31, 1893, was TOO colo- 

 nies of bees, 16,252 pounds of honey, 

 and 747 pounds of wax. By this you 

 will see that we have bees and honey ; 

 but considering that there is thick forest 

 everywhere, of eucalyptus and other 

 honey-producing trees, with fields of 

 maize and clover, and other growing 

 crops, in great abundance around us, 

 the yield is nothing to boast about. 

 However, there is likely now to be a 

 change. 



Some 15 months ago, a Mr. Albert 

 Gale, an expert, and officer of the Gov- 

 ernment, was sent up hero for the special 

 purpose of trying to introduce the 

 "scientific principles" of boo-kcoping 

 to this district; and with very gratify- 

 ing results, as there are now in this 

 locality some dozen men interested, and 

 have between them some 200 colonies 

 in the movable frames, and the most of 

 them Italianized. Your humble servant, 

 who has had bees nearly all his life (in 



the boxes) "caught on" at once; and 

 the day after the lecture he ordered a 

 movable-frame hive and an Italian 

 queen, and forthwith commenced ; (at 

 the same time taking the matter up in 

 the Wingham Chronicle with good re- 

 sults). 



In the winter of 1893, I put six colo- 

 nies down for winter, and came through 

 with four. Speaking of winter, how- 

 ever, reminds me that in comparison 

 with yours, we have no winter here, 

 although the bees, if they are not strong, 

 seem to suffer severely. We do not us- 

 ually have any frost until the end of 

 May, and it continues "frosting" and 

 raining, and shining then intermittingly 

 until about the end of August. It is not 

 cold, however, only until about 9 a.m., 

 and from 5 p.m., and the bees fly 

 briskly in the intermediate time, bring 

 ing in pollen, but little or no honey until 

 the latter end of August, when they be- 

 gin to get a little honey, and breed very 

 fast. From about the middle of Sep- 

 tember until the latter end of January, 

 then there is a continuous honey-flow. 

 It is impossible, though, to classify the 

 honey, as ail kinds of forest trees are 

 blooming at once, and you can only de- 

 clare that the flavor is " eucalyptus." 



But to return. After winter, I joined 

 forces with a neighbor, M. L. Cameron, 

 M. D. (formerly of Canada, by the way), 

 who laid out a nice plot of ground, capa- 

 ble of holding 400 or 500 colonies of 

 bees ; and we soon increased our num- 

 ber of colonies, as at present writing, to 

 60, and intend to fill the yard as soon as 

 possible. These we have Italianized, 

 and have the hives now full of stores, 

 and snug for the winter. 



We have also, I might say in passing, 

 some very choice queens amongst the 

 lot — one that I got from Mr. A. I. Root, 

 of your country, last August. 



This, perhaps, of your experienced 

 bee-keepers may think is jumping into 

 the business quickly — that is, for a be- 

 ginner to get from 4 to 60 in such a 

 short time; but we go quickly here, and 

 as our colonies are in splendid condition 

 bees, honey, brood, straight combs (8 

 frames, Hoffman-Root), and all ortho- 

 dox, we think we deserve credit for our 

 " go." Yet, after all, we have to thank 

 you "Yankees," as it is owing to your 

 literature and your appliances that we 

 are able to do it. 



When I bought my first hive, I forgot 

 to mention, I got a copy of Root's " A 

 B C of Bee-Culture," and subscribed to 

 his paper. Then I took the AMRRrcAN 

 Bke Journal, and have road them over 



